Abstract

In an astonishingly short period of time, the Internet and mobile commerce have profoundly shaped the way consumers live their lives as well as the way organizations do business with them—and with each other. With these electronic technologies and tools, businesses have remarkable new opportunities to connect with their customers and to build their brands as never before. Consequently, this chapter provides a broad overview of digital media and its effects on marketing and advertising. In doing so, we identify and define the most important digital media and advertising tactics as well as explain how they can be introduced into traditional marketing and advertising programs. The innovations presented here will help the reader understand how digital technology can improve marketing and advertising strategy formulation and execution. With so many online changes and innovations happening daily, this is a challenging—and exciting—time to practice marketing and advertising. As such, it is imperative that organizations have a presence in the Internet spaces that their customers and potential customers are exploring on a daily basis. In essence, organizations need to provide online listening posts for customers so that they can communicate what they think, as well as what they want or don’t want.

Introduction

It is well-documented that consumers are increasingly using the Internet and mobile commerce for shopping, for entertainment, and for accessing and sharing information. Brands that connect with consumers in these spaces—and listen to them—will have a greater chance of success. The utilization of these electronic platforms is no longer a matter of being innovative--it has become a necessity. To understand how things reached this point, we will briefly review the history of Internet marketing. Next, we will outline key marketing tactics for facilitating ecommerce (e-commerce, eCommerce) with the organization’s website as well as for those outside of the organization’s website. This will include a strategic approach for understanding customer needs and wants within the context of the marketing environment in an easy-to-understand framework. In addition, recommendations are provided for the effective implementation of ecommerce strategies that will build the brand and build relationships with customers using digital advertising and media. We will conclude with recommendations and applications for future research.